Commodore
By Michael Lewis
We met the very successful cruisers to Astoria in Astoria for a sail and dinner at the Portway Tavern. Jim & Marlene Himes, Cruise Officers, ran an excellent Cruise to Astoria. Keep up the great work, Jim.
The upcoming Columbia River All Catalina Rendezvous in Hayden Bay is to be held September 16-17. Plan now to make the anchorage and Catalina STAR formation out in front of Glenn and Deane Johnson’s house and join in the festivities. This is the event of the year for our fledgling association. Let’s make it a “must” be there. We are being welcomed by Columbia Crossings, they are offering us some extra passes, side ties, and bath & showers for those that need it.
One story that has become the signature for an unnamed boat, I am sure you all know who it is, but…why worry! As they come into a moorage, concerned boaters may offer them a hand by asking that they throw them a line. Don’t go there. They throw the line and both ends. It makes you smile after the shock wears off.
Congratulations to the first members to complete or attempt their Vessel Safety Check (VSC)!! I will be available at the Rendezvous in September or if you want to give me a call to arrange a more convenient time. We need 100% participation.
- Greg Brannan
- Walt & Marilyn Wittke
- William & Marla Simon
- James & Marlene Himes
- Richard & Marlene Redfield
Good Sailing!
Catalina Mainsheet Magazine
By Dale MackCatalina Mainsheet magazine is published quarterly (Feb, May, Aug, Nov). Targeted as a Catalina, Capri, and Morgan owners magazine, Mainsheet draws much of its contents from submissions made by members of the One-Design and All Catalina associations.
The magazine contains articles about cruising, technical tips, family activities aboard Catalina Yachts, racing results, regatta notices, and news from One-Design fleets and All Catalina Associations across the country who conduct many local activities.
Organized by Catalina model, the magazine makes it easy to find information about your boat. The Technical Notes section is great for reading about other owners' experiences in maintaining and enhancing their boats.I've subscribed to the Mainsheet since I purchased my boat from the dealer in 1987. It has been, and continues to be a great source of ideas. Although I sail a C-22, I find the stories about other models informative and inspiring. Before I ever moved to Vancouver and cruised the Columbia River and the San Juan Islands I read about others making those trips in the pages of the Mainsheet. It's a good value for the money.
The Mainsheet is available for $10/year through the Association. See the Secretary/Treasurer to subscribe.
Advanced Coastal Navigation Course
By Michael LewisThere are a limited number of spaces for the course coming up September 19 at the Water Pollution Lab under the St Johns Bridge. Ten weeks, two hours per night. Cost is $45 for text, study guide and two training charts.
Course covers compass, charts, instruments, dead reckoning, piloting, current sailing, tides and currents, electronic navigation, reference publications, fuel and voyage planning and a good practical chart problem.
Good intensive course, your commodore will be an instructor too.
US Coast Guard Auxiliary
ADVANCED COASTAL NAVIGATION
Date: Tuesday, September 19, 2000
Time: 1900 to 2100 hours (7-9 p.m.)
Length: 2 hours each Tuesday night for 10 weeks
Homework: Yes
Location: City of Portland Water Pollution Lab, 6543 N Burlington (Under the East end of the St John’s Bridge. Cross bridge from West turn right and head to the river or from the East turn before crossing the bridge and head to the river)
Cost: $45 per student includes text, study guide and two training charts
To enroll: Mail Check payable to: USCGAUX – Flotilla 73
Mail to:
Michael Lewis
17535 Monnier Road NE
Hubbard, OR 97032
Questions: Call Michael Lewis (503) 981-7467
Note: You will need some tools for the course including a course plotter, parallel ruler, protractor, dividers, compass, pencil, eraser, maneuvering board forms, and calculator. Inventory what you have and we will discuss them in the first class meeting.
If you have not mailed me your check, space in the class is limited and you will want to be one of the first to make your payment to assure your seat is made fast.
Class Outline:
- Sept. 19 Chapter 1 Introduction to Coastal Navigation
- Chapter 2 Marine Magnetic Compass
- Sept. 26 Chapter 3 Nautical Chart
- Chapter 4 Navigator’s tools and Instruments
- Oct. 3 Chapter 5 Dead Reckoning
- Oct. 10 Chapter 6 Piloting (start practice cruise)
- Oct. 17 Chapter 7 Current Sailing
- Oct. 24 Chapter 8 Tides and Tidal Currents
- Oct. 31 Chapter 9 Radio Navigation
- Nov. 7 Chapter 10 Navigation Reference Publications
- Nov. 14 Chapter 11 Fuel and Voyage Planning
- Chapter 12 Reflections and Take home Charting Exam
- Nov. 21 Review and Exam
Club Burgee
By Dale Mack
The burgee is available for $15 from the Secretary/Treasurer.
Cruising
Inaugural Association Cruise to Astoria
By Walt WittkeMarilyn and I want to thank both Jim and Marlene Himes for their excellent job on our cruise to Astoria. It was a relaxing trip plus lots of new adventure for us. All of us who went on the trip truly want to thank Jim and Marlene for their efforts in organizing the cruise and taking us "beginners" under their wing. We had a pretty good showing for the first annual trip. We got to meet some new people in our club who also own and enjoy sailing Catalina sailboats. Membership in a club such as our makes sailing really enjoyable as well as a wonderful place to meet new people and exchange sailing adventures.
I counted eight boats. Five boats made the complete trip including
Rick & Marlene Redford C27
- Bill & Marla Simons C270
- Greg Branan C27
- Walt & Marilyn Wittke C27
- Jim & Marlene Himes C28 (fearless leaders)
- Julie & Craig Beck (C36)
- Eugene Wilkinson (C36) and two of his "younger" friends joined us as far as Cathlamet, an old, sleepy Washington town.
One adventure for us was the windsurfing winds at "Cape Horn". Sailboarders actually sailed around our boats as we motored and pounded through the windy pass of 4ft waves. (We seldom get this much wave action in Portland.) Getting into Cathlamet using our depth sounders and Jim's expertise was also a thrill too. It was quite the experience following a chart, heading to a white 4x8 piece of plywood on the shore, left 90 degrees across the river, right around some buoys in the middle of the channel, missing some deadheads, straight to the white house, etc when all the time you would think you had plenty of water. It was quite scenic, if you had time to look.
Mike & Kathie Lewis (C38) joined us in Astoria after returning from a trip up north in the Sound.
Astoria was great because we had four days to "goof off". Took naps when we wanted, Marilyn read a little, visited the local "sites" and for those who haven't seen the Maritime Museum it was quite good. I especially enjoyed seeing the Light Ship Columbia, a manned light house ship, that used to be moored permanently at the entrance to the river. I'm glad I didn't do duty on this ship with all the winter time pounding waves and isolation. Another thrill for us was sailing in the waves outside our Astoria moorage. I had been out the week before on a friend's boat so I knew what to expect. From our moorage it looked pretty calm. There were 4 ft rolling waves with wind driven white capes and 20 knot winds. Going against them required you to hold on to the boat while motoring. I convinced Marilyn that sailing was actually easier and it was amazing how the boat cuts through the waves. We sailed for a couple of hours on just our Genoa which really overpowered the boat but without the main sail it was fun once we got the hang of it. Bill and Marla joined us that afternoon. The rest of the fleet had gone over to Ilwaco WA. After a few minutes they went back to the moorage. At the dock they found Chris who previously owned a Catalina 27 and now owns a 36 C & C. He was kind enough to take them out for a lesson. Sailors are such friendly people and so helpful. The Wittkes and the Simons tipped some wine with Chris and Connie, his wife, that evening. The Himes, Redford, and Branan trip to Ilwaco was also exciting, they will have to write about it later.
I believe all of us had a great time for whatever portion they traveled. It was a fun experience to have a fleet of boats going to one place and you made it happen. Thanks again.
On our way home, we all stayed in St. Helens for the night, my home town. On Sat. morning everyone headed home except the Wittkes, who decided to say a couple of extra days. Sat. we had a leisure day. Marilyn and I walked the streets where I used to walk and ride my bicycle as a boy. There happened to be an antique car show sponsored by the Kozy Korner restaurant on 4th street which was fun to see. They had many cars of the 30-60's that brought back memories of our childhood. We walked up to 18th street and visited my old family house that my Dad built. There is now a park in front the house which was known as McCormick field when Walt was a boy. I used to fish and play in Milton Creek. It is now a wonderful park with picnic tables, baseball diamond, and such.
After spending some more time at the creek, we when back to the boat to take a nap when we were awakened by someone who wanted to use our ladder. A 13 year old girl who weighed 300# was swimming with a friend and was sucked under the deck. She was not wearing a life jacket and Dan the guy who owned a San Juan 24 jumped to save her. Fortunately she did not struggle but he needed a way to get her on the dock. Our boat was his choice which seemed quite simple at first. She didn't have enough strength to pull herself up because of being tired. After another guy jumped in, with two guys pushing up on her bottom and Marilyn and I pulling her, we finally got her into our boat. A clumsy but successful rescue was made. Marilyn put a blanket over her and she was resting and fortunately the whole incident was not a panic situation.
Someone summoned her aunt who same came down to the dock. We thought her family would be joyed at our rescue but the first thing her aunt said to her was " well, get up--lets go". I convinced her that the girl needed to rest so she waited impatiently. A little later we helped the girl off the boat and no one even thanked us! Fortunately no one drowned.
After our rescue adventure with the 13 year old I really feel inadequate. I have to get another block and tackle that can be quickly deployed in case of an emergency. I was thinking at least I should get some quick release shackles to have on my back stay or boom vang or have a separate block and tackle. I believe we all need to get some training. At least for me I need to get instruction on the best way to rescue a MOB effectively. (Maybe Mike, our safety officer, would be willing to demonstrate the correct procedure at some future meeting.)
Sunday was our next big adventure. At noon we decided to sail the St. Helens area before going home on the high tide. Dan "helped" us off by throwing the bow line on the deck and we were off. Normally Marilyn ties the bow line but with his help we were "out of sync". We sailed up wind above Sand Island for about two hours and nearly reached Kalama when we decided to set our sails for a run home upstream having had a great and brisk sail. We had lunch and while on the Washington side, in the channel about halfway along side Sand Island we decided that we needed to motor sail in order to reach home before dark. I started the engine but as soon as I put it in gear it stopped. After trying forward/reverse, ruling out stuck drift wood, we remembered the bowline. It was as tight as a drum. We now have learned how important it is to have a "neat" ship when it comes to lines (the same thing can happen with jib sheets and other lines). The last two feet was wrapped around the prop! We were not in any immediate danger but a valuable lesson learned, if we should have needed the motor to get out of the way of a ship or something. It was decided that the best thing to do was to sail around the tip of the island and tack up to our dock. This was a challenge with a stiff wind, narrow channel (lots of short tacks) and the 150% Genoa that we had set for the trip home. Marilyn was amazed how I was to bring the boat into the dock in a strong whistling wind under full sail. In fact she handed the line to a fisherman on the dock as we stepped off the boat!! I guess my old Snipe days paid off. After unsuccessfully trying to find some divers at 4:30 on Sunday, on my second attempt with help of some borrowed goggles I was able to free the prop by swimming under the boat. It was quit refreshing. At 6:00pm we headed home. By 9:30 we reached Kelly Point in the darkness, waited about a half hour for the RR bridge to open and finally docked at our moorage at 10:30pm. It was Marilyn's first time boating in the dark. It is surprising how much you can actually see due to the moonlight and city lights but she had enough adventure for the day. All and all it was a great week and a wonderful adventure.
Thanks again Jim and Marlene for a great trip---wish all of you will be able to join us next year!
Local Sailing Associations
- SailPDX (hosted by Oregon Corinthian Sailing Association, OCSA)
- Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon (SYSCO)
- Oregon Women’s Sailing Association (OWSA)
- Portland Yacht Club (PYC)
- Rose City Yacht Club (RCYC)
The Columbia River All Catalina Association newsletter is published online once a month. Articles are the opinions of the authors and don’t necessarily represent the consensus of the Association.
